EF Academy business teacher makes the world his classroom – part 3

IB teacher and business expert John Dohrmann has been traveling the world since September, visiting high school classrooms in countries including Brazil, Kazakhstan, India, Norway and China to share his expertise in starting a business and leading it to success.

This post is the final installment of a three-part series highlighting Mr. Dohrmann’s presentations on finance, branding and now, entrepreneurship.

His entrepreneurship lesson simplifies the concept of starting your own business by breaking down the necessary, key steps. His students learn the three ways to start a business by building from their entrepreneurship skill set. Mr. Dohrmann also describes the process of idea generation as a method to come up with a viable starting point for a new business.

“If you have the drive and determination it takes to start a business but you don’t know what kind of business to start, then take a look at the things that bother you in real life and try and find a solution to those problems. Is there a way to monetize that inconvenience? That could be the start of something really great,” he said.

The experienced entrepreneur also introduces students to the concept of industry disrupters: companies that have completely turned an industry around and changed the game. The examples he uses in his presentation are iTunes and Amazon which “killed” CDs and bookstores, respectively – brands that students can easily relate to.

Among the most interesting points of Mr. Dohrmann’s mock IB lesson is his explanation of a sharing economy, how it has developed and the role it plays in consumers’ lives today.

“The best thing about a sharing economy is it makes it easy for so many people to become entrepreneurs. Uber has taken on large taxi companies who had monopolies in many cities and Airbnb is challenging large hotel chains. Both often provide an alternative and a more personal customer experience. It can also provide people with an excellent source of part-time income,” he said.

Mr. Dohrmann’s world tour is slowly coming to an end, but he will be making a few last stops in Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam in the coming months. Contact your local EF Academy admissions office to find out if our Business Teacher on the Road is coming to a classroom near you before school is out for the summer!

This post is the final installment in a three-part series that focuses on John Dohrmann’s presentation topics. Don’t forget to check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t read them already!